Lot 183

A NEW IRELAND ‘KULAP’ CARVED FIGURE, PAPUA NEW GUINEA Carved in chalk in a highly stylised manner, with an anthropomorphic face and elaborate carved ‘headdress’ decorated with incised swirling and linear patters, 26cm high, Footnotes: Chalk figures such as this were made by the peoples in the south part of New Ireland and are thought to represent ancestor figures, they were often kept in shrines and served apotropaic purposes.